By Lukman Olabiyi
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State United Kingdom (UK) Chapter, led by Tayo Sodeinde, has reaffirmed commitment to ensure that the party’s presidential flag bearer Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu emerges victorious at the 2023 general elections.
Sodeinde stated this when he and some members visited the Lagos State APC chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi.
According to him, there decision was borne out of the fact that for the first time in history, presidential candidate emanates from Lagos and given their culture in the diaspora to show much concern and affinity with what goes on at the home front, their total loyalty to ensuring a functional country remains sacrosanct.
He disclosed that they have started galvanizing support base for Tinubu ever since the commencement of the PVC registration exercise, owing to their firm belief that when he holds the reins of power there will be a total overhaul of our economy and all aspects of our lives as Nigerians.
“You will agree with me that those in the diaspora played a huge and massive role in term of diaspora remittance, those of us that have family, are responsible breadwinner, so we believed it is important for us to be part of the process in order to have Nigeria of our dream.
“So it’s being a great journey, we are still optimistic and very positive in the direction which our country is heading to now.
“ It’s being a long journey but yet a very progressive and very encouraging one. It is first time in history of our politics or democracy that Lagos State will present a Presidential candidate for our nation and more significantly, the candidate that we have now is somebody that has the capacity that have the experience somebody that has what it takes to turn the situation of the Country around.
“ He is a progressive father of the nation and apart from that he is somebody that cut across all the six (6) geo-political zones of the country regardless of what anyone will say, he is a man that has labour for the progressive cause of our nation and is a man that has help a lot of politicians, a lot of people in the country.
“This time that he is coming out to vie for the presidential office it’s something that those of us as Nigerian should count as civic responsibility to make sure that it comes to reality, it’s something we should take on board as duty that is an opportunity for us.
“ Those of us in diaspora and he himself is a diasporant it is a massive opportunity for us to have somebody of his integrity, somebody of his capacity, somebody armed with the technical know how to be at the helms of Nigeria government.
“We know there is going to be a lot of changes and that is why all across the six continent of the world in America, Europe, Africa, Canada, Asia everywhere, we are pulling resources together to make sure we are able to come we that have our voters card to be on ground and cast our vote we are mobilizing them to come.
“During the time of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) registration those that do not even have voters card that are near to Africa continent we mobilize them to come and they came in and register, those in Ghana, Togo in Benin they came in and got registered.
“Those of us in diaspora believe strongly in the candidacy of our National Leader Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we believe that come 2023 the Nigeria of our dream will be something that will be unfolding to every one of us, so those of us in diaspora we are very eager and very passionate.
“We want to give it everything we have to make sure that our National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu become the president of Nigeria.”
“Also since the inception of the State Chairman, we at APC Lagos State UK have not met with him, we saw the urgency and crucial need to pay him this visit that is why we are here, it also bothers on the need to keep him abreast of our involvement and participatory contribution to the progressive cause of our State and to establish relationship.
“ At the end we could decipher that we are going to have a cordial and a very productive and constructive relationship with him. Lagos State APC United Kingdom have been participating actively since 1999 in the progressive development and progressive processing of Nigeria.
“We in diaspora believed that there is a need to sensitize, mobilize and to inform Lagosians and Nigerians in diaspora about how well democratic values are being entrenched here.
According to Otunba Tony Omotayo Lagos APC UK’s Deputy Chairman the support thing is more like a routine for them every election year and thereafter
“We’ve always been there and we will be there again and continue to do our best for the success of the campaign and for the re-election of our dear Governor Sanwo-Olu Babajide.
Jermaine Sanwo-Olu the Senior Special Assistance on Diaspora and Foreign Relations to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in response to the thoughtful move said given the numbers of those in diaspora the idea to make them eligible to vote might be out of place.
“I believe many people in diaspora especially those who are politically incline and savvy will be flying down to support and I am looking forward to situation, whereby we can have like a diaspora voter register.
“People who have PVCs in diaspora, we can register online we gather ourselves together, even though we are not allowed to vote so to say in our nation, we are up to (500,000, 1,000,000) five hundred thousand, one million, it is a significant and a critical mass that any political party or politician will take seriously.
“United we can do a lot but we need to aggregate, collaborate come together and have this numbers. It is a very important and politically sensitive issue, but it’s one we cannot deny there must be diaspora voting in Nigeria,
It’s a long overdue but through the wisdom and the knowledge of our members of House of Representatives like Senate they decided they should put in further date being no better day can see the bigger picture but we are at it for now we are not going to stop.
“We have decided to take a leaf also on that, to have diaspora voting council which I was part of and to also do that and I’m sure our State Chairman Hon. Tayo Sodeinde in the United Kingdom and other eminent personalities in diaspora all around the world will come and support this time.
“Hopefully we know that our candidate our flag bearer the person that will take us to Presidency Aso Rock- Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a person who is Diaspora incline and we believe that when he comes into office with the re-structuring idea he has he will also add the Diaspora inclusive agenda,
“I can tell you that many people who are in Lagos State Government now during his time was brought in as workers, appointees and all that.
“ Governor Babatunde Fashola Governor Ambode they all follow suit and even Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu too has a lot of Diaspora, many leaders of MDA’s are also diasporants, Asiwaju time is now.
“I believe Nigerian will vote for him, diaspora are very progressive I will encourage them too, but as diasporants we have our own different tendencies politically, we can only encourage them that Asiwaju is a trusted person just look at Lagos State for example there is success everywhere no doubt there will success in the Federal level when he comes there.
Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi APC Chairman Lagos state in his response to Lagos APC in UK, noted that: “ we just need to appreciate what they are doing, this is not the first time they have been supporting our party, this time around they are here again to give their assurance and letting all of us know that this is a bigger responsibility.
“Now that for the first time the Lagos State APC Chapter has been given the opportunity of presenting the Presidential Candidate they are mindful of that and they came to give us assurance that they want to redouble their efforts in making sure that everything at their disposal resources wise, material wise will be made available for this onerous task and they are really on ground to do the job until we achieve our desire.
“ I think it is worthy of commendation. We have given them our assurance very soon I will invite all the candidates, I want them to really interact with our candidates to get themselves acquainted with those people that are going to represent the people of various constituencies, to gear them up to the project ahead of all of us, I appreciate them and I will always support them.